One of the reasons I love Thanksgiving is because it asks us to stop and enumerate everything we’re thankful for. At its best, it’s a day of love and goodwill that changes attitudes in a way that few other holidays can. Likewise, one of the reasons I love celebrating communion at church is because it humbles me by reminding me of my place in my relationship with God. Humility and thankfulness, for me at least, require regular practice. If I don’t practice them I tend to slip into a selfish pride that does nothing but damage my thought life and my relationships.

In the following devotional from Delve into Jesus, Michael Lane discusses how we don’t just magically become humble and thankful. Both are postures we have to commit to in our daily lives:

I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m not certain how to make myself become humble or to force myself to feel thankful. If I were to attempt it and fail, then I might be inclined to shrug my shoulders and give up in despair. But no, we are commanded to do, not to be. Fortunately, I do know how to humble myself and how to give thanks, so I can concern myself with doing something tangible, instead of trying to be something intangible.

Though we may not succeed in becoming humble and thankful by striving for that directly, by humbling ourselves, we will become humble and by giving thanks, we will become thankful.

Every day, there are terrific opportunities to humble ourselves which we may overlook. It’s a choice we have to consciously make whenever we feel that we may not be getting our due. When we discover that a co-worker has been promoted to the position we felt we deserved, then we can choose to compliment and congratulate them or we can choose a bitter and resentful reaction. When you volunteer for an event at your church and all that remains is the job of cleaning up, then you have a choice to make. Will you walk away in disgust because that job is beneath your talent, or will you gratefully accept the task and complete it without grumbling? Humbling ourselves is as simple as making the decision to suppress our pride whenever it rears its ugly head. The more we do this, the easier and more natural it will become until, at long last, we will be humble.

Giving thanks is likewise a conscious decision we need to make daily. As part of our regular prayer time, we need to get on our knees – metaphorically and literally – and thank God for the abundant and rich blessings in our life. We should list all of our blessings – our home, a warm meal, the love of friends and family and most importantly, our salvation – and take a moment to truly appreciate each of them. In time, we will evolve from someone who gives thanks to someone who is truly thankful.

Do you find it hard to be humble or thankful?

Recently, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have gone on a mission to convince wealthy people to give away 50% of everything they own. If they’re successful, it’ll mean approximately $600,000,000,000 going to charities worldwide.

Most of the article talks about the fascinating history of the proposed pledge:

The idea of aiming for a 50% slice of net worth was pragmatically pulled from the sky, being less than the principals would have liked to ask for but perhaps as much, at least initially, as they can get. The pledges, meanwhile, were never envisioned as legal contracts but rather moral obligations to be both memorialized in writing and taken very seriously. They are in fact to be posted on a new website, givingpledge.org, whose construction Melinda Gates oversaw. The 99% pledge that Buffett is making is likely to be the No. 1 document on the website, if he is not beaten out by his Seattle friends. [...]

The definition of success in this venture may take years to figure out, but each of the principals has reflections about the matter. Buffett knows that everyone rich has thought about what to do with his or her money: “They may not have reached a decision about that, but they have for sure thought about it. The pledge that we’re asking them to make will put them to thinking about the whole issue again.” He warns, most of all, against the rich delaying the decision of what to do with their money: “If they wait until they’re making a final will in their nineties, the chance of their brainpower and willpower being better than they are today is nil.”

As a Christian, this reminds me of two stories. One is the story of the rich young ruler. In it, Jesus tells a young man to sell everything he owns and to “follow him.” Of course, the man goes away sad because he can’t dream of relinquishing so much.

The other is the story of the widow with two mites. After watching rich men donating huge amounts of money, Jesus sees a widow give her last two coins and declares that she gave more than any of the rich men.

Neither story is a perfect analog to what Gates and Buffett are after, but I do think the challenge falls somewhere in between them. The idea is for these billionaires to give in a way that they would never have imagined on their own, and in doing so make a real difference in people’s lives. They’re not being tasked to give it all away, like the rich young ruler was, but to give more than a token amount, like the men at the Temple did.

Clearly, the Biblical stories are motivated by faith, which the Fortune article doesn’t discuss; but I wonder if if some will find the motivation to participate in the pledge in their faith. After all, what they’re being asked to do is give in a way that runs contrary to the ideas that helped them gain their wealth.

What do you think of this challenge? Do you think that 50% is too high or low of a number? If they actually reach their goal, do you think it will have any effect on your personal giving?

Do you have any accomplishments you’re particularly proud of?

We’ve all been successful at something. Whether it’s a small or big, those moments of success stick with us. For example, I still remember the elated feeling after I won the Frisbee toss in my fourth grade gym class’ track and field day. Looking back on it, I can recognize that it’s a seriously inconsequential achievement, but to my fourth grade self getting that blue ribbon was the best thing in the world.

Our devotional this morning from Strength for the Journey reminds us that while our accomplishments seem amazing in the moment, when viewed from the vantage point of eternity, they quickly become meaningless:

So here’s the sobering lesson. No matter how important your accomplishments are now and how much applause they generate, time will eventually erase the headlines of your life. Ultimately, all that will be left is your name and dates on a seldom-visited tombstone.

Unless, that is, you live your life to do something of significance for eternity. Like the preacher says, “Only one life will soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last!” So here are some suggestions for living a life that counts forever.

* Give meaningful portions of your time, gifts, talents, and money to advance the eternal cause of Jesus in your town. Remember, that wiggly six-year-old in your Sunday school class may be the next Billy Graham! (See Matthew 25:21.)
* Encourage your children to consider going somewhere in this world to win people to Christ and to plant churches that will propagate the eternal power of Jesus to save those who otherwise are eternally lost. (See Matthew 9:36.)
* Raise a godly generation to carry the eternal values and principles of God’s Word into their world. (See Psalm 119:89-90.)
* Be like Jesus: live to win a lost friend to the eternal joy of heaven. (See Luke 19:10.) Love and obey God with all your heart. Look forward to His appearing and receive a crown of righteousness when you get to heaven. (See 2 Timothy 4:8.)

Read the rest of the devotional at RBC.org

What do you invest your time and energy into that has eternal significance?